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What, No Fireworks?

When I read the email from Catherine at the Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce yesterday, announcing today’s fireworks were canceled, I was truly disappointed. Having spent the past twenty years as an American expatriate living in Germany and Britain, I was looking forward eagerly to my first Fourth of July celebration in Boothbay Harbor. Would the fact there were not going to be fireworks somehow make the holiday less enjoyable?

As I walked from Bayberry House downtown, however, passing a virtual cavalcade of American flags, buntings, fans, etc., I could see that a bit of bad weather in the forecast had done nothing to diminish the patriotic fervor of our small town. Many of the people on the sidewalks wore hats and/or shirts with a patriotic theme and anyone could see the intermittently darkened skies weren’t affecting their pleasure in the least or their happiness in being Americans.

I have always been proud to be an American, whether I was living in Germany or the West Midlands of Great Britain. I’ve loved living abroad and I’ve loved meeting great people from a multitude of foreign countries, many of whom will be lifelong friends. But it has taken returning to Boothbay Harbor to realize how much I have really missed living in the United States. As the author Sinclair Lewis once wrote, “Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every other country.” Happy Fourth of July to everyone and God Bless America!